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Trivia

Trivia for February 21, 2023

Question

What two franchises have gone over 30 years without beginning a season with a head coach who also previously played in the NFL? Both franchises last began seasons with coaches with NFL playing experience in the ‘80s (the wording of the question is awkward to account for one of these teams have two coaches with playing experience who came in as replacements to close out seasons).

Answer

New England and Cleveland. The Patriots’ last coach who was also a player was Raymond Berry (1989). With the Browns, their last full-fledged coach who also played was Marty Schottenheimer in 1988. For Cleveland, Jim Shofner and Terry Robiskie played in the NFL but were brought in to close out seasons – Shofner replacing Bud Carson for the final seven games of the 1990 season, and Robiskie taking over for Butch Davis for the final five games of 2004. Four other teams haven’t had coaches who were also players since the ‘90s, including Miami (Don Shula, 1995), Baltimore (Ted Marchibroda, 1998), Green Bay (Ray Rhodes) and the Giants (Dan Reeves, 1996).

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